I have some pretty good sized public land I have been scouting and the only crop fields are sometimes over a mile away. I imagine as the food gets harder to find they will travel further, but for now and until say early December, how far will a buck travel to feed on crops? Im thinking they are feeding more on browse and acorns etc.

They will stay as close to the food as possible with regard to hunting pressure and disturbance. If nobody is messing with them they will stay close to avoid burning extra calories. But when the pressure is on them they will take security first and will not hesitate to travel over a mile for food under the cover of darkness.

I'd say the deer are probably feeding locally and not traveling that distance to the crops. Something to keep in mind......if all they do is browse, it can have a huge affect on antler size in the area.

Brad Lamont wrote:I have some pretty good sized public land I have been scouting and the only crop fields are sometimes over a mile away. I imagine as the food gets harder to find they will travel further, but for now and until say early December, how far will a buck travel to feed on crops? Im thinking they are feeding more on browse and acorns etc.

Thats a good question....for where we hunt in northern bigwoods crop fields don't exist, deer are browse feeders.So they travel long distances at times, alot of times relating to clearcuts or beaver slashings where browse is more plentiful, thats where the does are. I think the older bucks, in the timeframe your speaking, more relates to rut or security in the distance they travel, more than feeding. Summer and winter patterns, they usually stay pretty close to their food source.

magicman54494 wrote:One time this old buck traveled 170 miles north to get a pizza. I ended up bedding down up there.

I don't believe that for one minute.

True story! and Brad, I brought the doe with me.To answer your question more seriously, I believe a big buck would bed as close as he could and still feel safe. If there is good feed and good bedding on the private land you might have to wait for the rut to get a chance at bucks using those crop lands. Pressure will play a role in this as well - pubic or private. In the big woods (no crops) the bucks tend to bed where they have food right in or near their bedding.

magicman54494 wrote:One time this old buck traveled 170 miles north to get a pizza. I ended up bedding down up there.

I don't believe that for one minute.

True story! and Brad, I brought the doe with me.To answer your question more seriously, I believe a big buck would bed as close as he could and still feel safe. If there is good feed and good bedding on the private land you might have to wait for the rut to get a chance at bucks using those crop lands. Pressure will play a role in this as well - pubic or private. In the big woods (no crops) the bucks tend to bed where they have food right in or near their bedding.

I have seen them move over a 2 mile distance in a night to feed... by trail cameras and spot lighting. It depends on bedding cover, predator pressure, and food sources available. Deer will relocate come late fall or winter/spring for food

"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear

We've had a similar question. Once dark comes, how fast will a buck travel to get where he wants to go? I realise there's all kinds of variables involed, but will he just meander along or make straight away? Or is there an answer to that question?

The reason I ask is, last year, October, we set a camera on a finger heading down to a group of fields. We got several pics of bucks coming down that finger almost 2 hours after dark. One buck was regular, every day for a period of time, within minutes each night. We also got pics of the bucks going back up the finger about 1 1/2 hours before daylight each day. I've got a pretty good idea where this buck is bedding but it doesn't take that long to get to the point where the camera was hung, assuming he started down the ridge when it got dark. I thought he rose from his bed, and fed on the ridgetop (acorns) for a while, then headed down to the fields. What was interesting is his timing. Does any of that make sense?

This was public land and all the pressure was around the field edge back to maybe 100 yards into the woods. The camera was set about 700 yards back up the finger and where I believe he's bedding is probably another 700-800 yards. The ridge gets no pressure, that is until I go in there this fall.